Safety control for fluid pressure regulators

ABSTRACT

A safety control for fluid pressure regulators having primary valve means for normally controlling the flow of high pressure fluid downstream and an auxiliary flow control means for restricting downstream fluid flow in the event that foreign matter or structural defects in the orifice or valve seat of the primary valve means prevents the valve from completely sealing off the flow of fluid or locking up under the action of the regulator, the primary orifice yielding to permit the auxiliary valve seat means to function and eliminate the need to discharge into the surrounding air a large volume of fluid, such as gas, through the usual vent in the regulator.

United States Patent [191 Hughes SAFETY CONTROL FOR PRESSURE REGULATORS [75] Inventor: George C. Hughes, Anderson, 1nd.,

[731 Assignee: Textron Inc., Providence, R.l.

[22] Filed: June 20, 1972 [2]] Appl. No.: 264,535

[51] Int. Cl. Fl6k 15/02 [58] Field 01 Search 137/505, 505.47, 137/505.46, 512, 512.3, 516.25, 516.27, 613;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1969 Johnson l37/505.46 X 4/1971 Rothfuss 137/613 X Aug. 28, 1973 3,613,725 10/1971 Hughes 137/5123 X Primary Examiner-Harold W. Weakley Attorney-Arthur A. Johnson [57] ABSTRACT A safety control for fluid pressure regulators having primary valve means for normally controlling the flow of high pressure fluid downstream and an auxiliary flow control means for restricting downstream fluid flow in the event that foreign matter or structural defects in the orifice or valve seat of the primary valve means prevents the valve from completely sealing off the flow of fluid or locking up under the action of the regulator, the primary orifice yielding to permit the auxiliary valve seat means to function and eliminate the need to discharge into the surrounding air a large volume of fluid, such as gas, through the usual vent in the regula- 101'.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures SAFETY CONTROL FOR FLUID PRESSURE REGULATORS Occasionally foreign matter in the fluid or structural failure or defects in the valve means prevents the valve seat from completely closing or locking up. Fluid would continue to flow through the valve, for example, if it was held open by foreign matter, and cause a large volume of fluid to pass through the valve and flow downstream of the regulator. This resulted in an overpressure in the regulator so that a large amount of fluid would be discharged through a pressure-responsive vent in the regulator which may cause a serious hazard in certain installation areas.

Several arrangements to prevent this difficulty have been proposed in my. US. Pat. No. 3,613,725 in which auxiliary valve means controls the downstream flow of fluid in case of failure ofthe primary valve means to including a primary orifice which is resiliently mounted andan auxiliary. orificewhich is fixed so that the valve seat, should. foreign matteror other failure of the valve seat prevent. the valve from closing, will act with the auxiliary. orifice to restrictthe downstream flow of high pressure fluid and thus reduce the pressure in the downstream line and-also preventthebuild-up'of pressure inv the regulator which would cause large volumes of fluid to be discharged through the usual regulator vent. g This is. accomplished inone formof the invention by a novelvalving construction in which a primary orifice sleeve is slidable in a valve'port b ushinglandis normally resiliently urged by aspring to a positionprojecting from the bushing in which it may be engaged by a valve seat. In the. eventthat'there. is a .valve. failure or that for.-

eign matter. comesbetween the valve seat: and the end; of; the orifice sleeve so as to= prevent thevalve. from being closed; the overpressure on the regulator diaphragm-will cause the valve seatto press-againstthe obstruction nv the sleeve and.- move thelatter inwardly.

againstthe tension-of the spring. so thatanauxiliaryorificeon the. orifice bushing'willico'operate with the valve seat, to restrict thepassage. through. the. sleeve to the.

flowofv fluid. The. auxiliaryorifice andy-said valve seat therefor may, completely seal the flowof fluid. downstream. when the; pressure exceeds. a. predetermined value,

The auxiliary orifice meansmay be an integral part of the, valve portsbushingonit may be a separate sleeve securedxto and extending from .theybushing andrin either case it .ispositioned to cooperate with an auxiliary valveseat operated-:bythe regulator diaphragm.

. In, another. form,- the. orifice'sleevexbushing,mayahave:

a peripheral edge surface, to engage a match'ingsurface. on a beveled ivalveseat.

Qthcrfeaturesandadvantages-.of.the invention will beapparent fromthel specification-and claims. when considered in connection with. the accompanying draw-.-

ingsin which:

FIG.- ljishows a sectional view. of thevalvezportion of I As shown in the drawings, the fluid pressure regulator 10 has an inlet 11, outlet 12, and a valve means 13 for controlling the flow of fluid between the inlet and outlet and also has a passage 14 communicating the outlet passage with a regulator pressure chamber 14a which is closed by the usual flexible pressure-v responsive diaphragm 15 and in which avalve seat 16 is actuated by a bell crank 17 operating on a valve stem l8 for moving the valve seat 16 into a partially closed or a sealing position with the orifice 20 as shown in FIG. 1 in response to the amount of pressure in the pressure chamber of the regulator.

For the purpose of illustrating the present invention, the failure of the valve means will be described as occurring; because of the presence of particles of foreign matter between the valve seat and orifice. As shown in the drawings, the valve means 13 includes a sleeve 21 slidably mounted in a bushing 22 carried by the valve housing 23 of the regulator. The end of the sleeve 2 1 has a chisel edge 24 forming the orifice 20. The sleeve" 21 is normally urged by a coiled spring 25" to a projecting position shown in FIG. 1 in which a flange 26' on tlie sleeve 21 engages the inner end 27 of the bushing 22. The spring 25 is disposed between the flange 26 and housing portion 28. According to the present invention, the coils are spaced apart a sufficient distance so as never to appreciably restrict the flow of fluid through the valve means.

When the'valve seat is in the position of FIG. 1",- its center portion engages the circular edge 24 on the'end of the sleeve 21 closing the orifice 20and the flow of fluid is stopped and the valve meansbeing' in its sealed or'locked-up position. However, shoulda particle P, FIG. 2', (greatly enlarged) of foreign matter be lodged between the valve-seat l6 and the circular edge 24 of the sleeve 21 which projects beyond the bushing 22, it will prevent closingof the passage between the orifice 20'and theivalve seat 16, as shown in FIG. 2 Continuedspressure by the valve seat 1'6 on the sleeve 2], caused. by -the diaphragm l5and bell crank 17, will overcome the pressu're of the spring 25 and cause it'to yield andallowing the orifice sleeve Zl'to recede-withiri the: bushing-.22, but still agap caused by the particle l? remainsbetween the orifice 20 and the seat 16 allowing. the. fluid pressure on the diaphragm to increase. Sucha condition is shown in FIG. 2; However, before the pressure of the fluid increases substantially, according to the present invention, auxiliary orifice meansis ap';

the-

ciently large diameter to provide an annular surface 16b so that when theasleeve 21 recedes under pressure from the'valveseat 16, the surface 16b approaches-the ridge 30 more or less to regulate the downstream pres-F sure of the fluid. If, ultimately, the downstream pres sure rises excessively, the orifice means 29 is closed by surface 16b of the valve seat 16, as shown in FIG. 3, against the passage of fluid. An O-ring 31 prevents leakage of fluid between the bushing 22 and the sleeve 21.

It will be seen, therefore, that the described novel safety control has a valving structure that will stop or greatly reduce the flow of fluid and prevent fluid discharge through thevent of the regulator without any serious danger.

In the form of the invention shown in FIG. 4, the orifice sleeve 121 and its chisel-like edge 124 are urged to projected position by spring 125 as in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 but instead of having an auxiliary circular ridge 30, the bushing 122 has an outer beveled edge 130 forming an orifice 129, while the valve seat 116 has a cavity forming a bottom seat 131 for the orifice 120 and a beveled seat 132 to engage the beveled edge 130 of the bushing 122. i

If an obstruction becomes lodged between the surface 131 of the valve seat 116 and the edge 124 on the sleeve 121, the sleeve 121 will recede and allow movement of the beveled seat 132 toward the beveled edge 130 to control the flow of fluid and stop it should the pressure become excessive. The valve seat 116 may, as indicated in FIG. 4, be made of rubber or suitable elastomeric material.

In the form of the invention shown in FIG. 5, the orifice bushing 222 has secured to it a collar 231 by a screw 232 and the valve stem 218 carries a valve seat 216 adapted to cooperate with the orifice 220. The sleeve 221 is held in normal position by a coil spring 225. The valve stem 218 carries a valve cap 233 having a flared portion 234 surrounding but spaced from part of the valve seat 216 and the end of the collar 231.

If an obstruction should become lodged between the orifice sleeve 221 and the valve seat 216, the spring 225 will yield and the orifice sleeve 221 will recede. During such recession of the sleeve 221, the valve cap 233 will advance toward the end 235 of the sleeve 231 and regulate the downstream pressure in the regulator, ultimately stopping the flow of fluid by engagement with the end 235 of the sleeve 231, if the fluid pressure becomes excessively high.

In the form of the invention shown in FIG. 6, the orifice sleeve 321 has an orifice 320 for cooperation with a valve seat 316 carried by a valve cap 333 mounted on a valve stem 318.

If an obstruction should lodge between the orifice 320 and the valve seat 316, the sleeve 321 will be caused to recede against the tension of spring 325 and thus will not control the pressure of the fluid flow downstream. However, as shown in FIG. 6, there is an auxiliary orifice 330 which is formed by a collar 331, in this form, integral with the bushing 332 and an auxiliary valve seat 334 carried by the valve cap 333 and valve stem 318.

If foreign matter should become lodged between the orifice 320 and the valve seat 316, the sleeve 321 will recede in the bushing allowing the bottom 334a of a recess in the valve seat 334 to cooperate with the circular ridge 324 of the orifice 330 in regulating the downstream pressure of the fluid, but if the pressure becomes excessive, the valve stem 318 will cause the bottom 334a of the recess to engage the valve seat 334 of the circular ridge 324 and stop the flow of fluid downstream of the regulator.

The valve seats 316 and 334 may be composed of rubber or other elastomeric material.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. A safety control for fluid pressure regulators having a housing having an inlet and an outlet for fluid, a pressure-responsive diaphragm in the housing and valving means responsive thereto for controlling the flow of fluid between said inlet and outlet, said valving means comprises a sleeve having an end defining an orifice, a bushing in said housing in which said sleeve is slidably mounted, resilient means normally urging said end of the sleeve to a position projecting from said bushing, valve seat means for engaging the projecting end of the sleeve to close said orifice in response to a predetermined pressure of the fluid in the regulator, increased pressure in said regulator above said predetermined pressure, due to failure of said valve seat to shut off the orifice, causing the valve seat to move said movable orifice sleeve against the pressure of said resilient means, the improvement comprising auxiliary cooperating valve means on said bushing and on said valve seat means operable responsive to said movement of said sleeve to cause restriction of the flow of fluid through the sleeve and thus the reduction of the fluid pressure downstream in the regulator and ultimately shut off fluid flow if said pressure rises substantially above said predetermined pressure.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which said auxiliary valve means comprises a ridge on the bushing surrounding the projecting end of the sleeve, and said valve seat means has a central portion positoned to engage the end of said sleeve and an annular portion to engage said ridge and shut off the flow of fluid through the sleeve when said projecting end of the sleeve recedes into the bushing without shutting off the flow of fluid through said sleeve.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which said auxiliary valve means comprises a beveled peripheral edge on said bushing and said sleeve projects substantially beyond said beveled edge, and said valve seat means comprises a central portion positoned to engage said end of said sleeve and a beveled portion surrounding said central portion and positioned to engage said beveled peripheral portion of said bushing when said projecting end of said sleeve recedes into the bushing without shutting off the flow of fluid through said sleeve.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which said bushing has a collar which projects substantially beyond the end of said sleeve and said valve seat means has a central portion positioned within said collar to cooperate with the end of said sleeve to control the flow of fluid to said sleeve, said auxiliary valve means comprising a dish-shaped valve cap having an inclined rim portion normally spaced from said end of the collar and positioned to'engage the end of said collar and shut off flow of fluid to said sleeve if the projecting end of the sleeve recedes into the bushing without shutting off the flow of fluid through said sleeve.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which said bushing has a collar which projects substantially beyond the end of said sleeve, and said valve seat means having a body provided with a central portion positioned within said collar to cooperate with the end of said sleeve to control the flow of fluid to said sleeve,

said body comprising an annular portion normally spaced from said end of the collar, and positioned to engage theend of said collar and shut off flow of fluid to said sleeve if the projecting end of the sleeve recedes 5 inwardly of said bushing without shutting off the flow of fluid through said sleeve, said body being formed of end of said sleeve. 

1. A safety control for fluid pressure regulators having a housing having an inlet and an outlet for fluid, a pressureresponsive diaphragm in the housing and valving means responsive thereto for controlling the flow of fluid between said inlet and outlet, said valving means comprises a sleeve having an end defining an orifice, a bushing in said housing in which said sleeve is slidably mounted, resilient means normally urgiNg said end of the sleeve to a position projecting from said bushing, valve seat means for engaging the projecting end of the sleeve to close said orifice in response to a predetermined pressure of the fluid in the regulator, increased pressure in said regulator above said predetermined pressure, due to failure of said valve seat to shut off the orifice, causing the valve seat to move said movable orifice sleeve against the pressure of said resilient means, the improvement comprising auxiliary cooperating valve means on said bushing and on said valve seat means operable responsive to said movement of said sleeve to cause restriction of the flow of fluid through the sleeve and thus the reduction of the fluid pressure downstream in the regulator and ultimately shut off fluid flow if said pressure rises substantially above said predetermined pressure.
 2. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which said auxiliary valve means comprises a ridge on the bushing surrounding the projecting end of the sleeve, and said valve seat means has a central portion positoned to engage the end of said sleeve and an annular portion to engage said ridge and shut off the flow of fluid through the sleeve when said projecting end of the sleeve recedes into the bushing without shutting off the flow of fluid through said sleeve.
 3. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which said auxiliary valve means comprises a beveled peripheral edge on said bushing and said sleeve projects substantially beyond said beveled edge, and said valve seat means comprises a central portion positoned to engage said end of said sleeve and a beveled portion surrounding said central portion and positioned to engage said beveled peripheral portion of said bushing when said projecting end of said sleeve recedes into the bushing without shutting off the flow of fluid through said sleeve.
 4. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which said bushing has a collar which projects substantially beyond the end of said sleeve and said valve seat means has a central portion positioned within said collar to cooperate with the end of said sleeve to control the flow of fluid to said sleeve, said auxiliary valve means comprising a dish-shaped valve cap having an inclined rim portion normally spaced from said end of the collar and positioned to engage the end of said collar and shut off flow of fluid to said sleeve if the projecting end of the sleeve recedes into the bushing without shutting off the flow of fluid through said sleeve.
 5. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which said bushing has a collar which projects substantially beyond the end of said sleeve, and said valve seat means having a body provided with a central portion positioned within said collar to cooperate with the end of said sleeve to control the flow of fluid to said sleeve, said body comprising an annular portion normally spaced from said end of the collar, and positioned to engage the end of said collar and shut off flow of fluid to said sleeve if the projecting end of the sleeve recedes inwardly of said bushing without shutting off the flow of fluid through said sleeve, said body being formed of elastomeric material, and a rigid valve cap in which said body lies.
 6. The invention as defined in claim 4 in which said bushing has a collar projecting substantially beyond the end of said sleeve. 